Ace-Garageguy

Ummmm...that's kinda the point. Guess you guys missed the fact that this is a joke.

That's probably pretty good advice if you want a decent-looking but low-effort model of the car. I have one of those missing parts, and the body isn't bad...plus, the frame is MUCH better as far as the visible parts on the sides go. The photo of the completed model below was posted here by spencer1984 about a year ago. Real car...

Pretty damm cool.

WOW! THAT is gorgeous. Man, man, damm. My 3-wheeler model is 1/10 scale with provisions for mounting in a wind tunnel. I built it like an old balsa model...balsa bulkheads with stringers between...then covered in f'glass and bondo. It was easy to go from the 1:10 drawings up to full scale, and the real one is built much the same way. I've built a few clays over the years too. This was a study for a gen-1 MR2 body kit.

I'll send you enough urethane foam scrap pieces to easily do an interior if you want. The stuff comes in different densities for different applications. The lightest would probably be what you need. It shapes MUCH better than floral foam. The urethane stuff IS toxic-dusty though. You need to wear a respirator if you use it. Far as the glue-seams go on the 1"1 projects...yes, that IS an issue. After you've done this kind of stuff for a while, you design ahead several steps so the seams aren't where material will be shaped. Interesting your guys discovered the problem.

Thanks. That's actually very helpful. Good stuff there.

I make a lot of parts this way. One thing to remember is that though "floral foam" (expanded styrene) is impervious to epoxy, it will dissolve in plastic cement or polyester resin. I generally prefer to use urethane foam (I have a lot of scrap usually from 1:1 projects). Here's some corners for a rolled rear pan on a '32 Ford. Snake...I'll be glad to send you some pieces of this foam, as well as a little cabosil (to thicken the epoxy into a paste) and some very fine f'glass cloth too...if you want to do your A-26 nose.

Great rust and details. I'd like to see that one photographed in daylight.

For pix, just google "Bill Thomas Cheetah chassis". Lots of 'em. This looks like a pretty good site, though the chassis shown may not in fact be an original.... http://www.cckhistoric.com/tag/bill-thomas-cheetah/ And as Greg says above, the line drawing 3 posts up is of the Fiberglass Trends drag-car clone, NOT a real road-racing Cheetah. Two completely different animals, different chassis, different suspension. The rear suspension, to the best of my foggy recollection, is basically '63 Corvette independent, as are (I think) the front spindles. The rear chunk, axles and uprights I believe are pretty much stock Corvette, but coil springs are substituted for the 'Vette's transverse leaf, and lightweight tubular trailing arms replace the heavy stamped and welded stock GM parts.

And...the reason it stipulates "any type head" for the old 4-cylinder engines is because there was an almost unbelievably wide array of trick heads for Model T and A (and their derivatives) engines...including DOHC. The little engines were allowed to run the exotic heads to make them more competitive, naturally.

I swear Ed, you must live in one of the most scenic places on Earth. The shot with the green hills is just heartbreakingly pretty. I think that's one of the 5 most beautiful things I've ever seen.

As usual, a perfect period look and feel. Very nice.

One thing to really watch out for...and I learned this doing 1:1 cars...is that sandpaper will 'shed' little pieces of grit as you use it. That's why you should always change your water when you change sanding grits. You don't want a piece of 800 grit sand getting rubbed all over your body while you're trying to sand it to 8000. You should also wash the model between grits, and again when you finish color-sanding prior to polishing.

Right out of the box is going to be the MPC kit. It's already chopped about right, has a chopped grille shall and kinda right fenders (as noted so kindly above by Alexis). So to get a loose interpretation of the real car by just glooing parts together, it's the one you want. If you want to go for something a lot more accurate, I'd recommend you start with the Revell 5-window. But it will be a LOT more work.

I'm sure they will. They have a good reputation in that regard. And after they've sent out a few hundred or thousand replacements, they'll rectify whatever the cause is too.

Believe whatever you want. In my own experience straightening styrene bodies under running water (and I've straightened a lot) if the water is of a temperature human hands can stand for a prolonged time, I've ALWAYS had to warp the part in question well beyond where I wanted it to end up. This means putting significant mechanical stress into the plastic, as well as heating it, to warp it farther than desired so when it springs back, it will be in about the right place...IF the temperature is significantly less than the material's Tg ,which is about that of boiling water. 212 F. 100 C. There is simply NO significant mechanical stress inside a normally-packed model car box to cause permanent deformation at relatively low temperatures. And these boxes are NOT showing any signs of having been crushed. Yes, styrene will "cold flow" somewhat if it's in a crushed box for a long time with stuff on top of it warping it into a new shape...and this is usually why WE have to straighten things under hot water. Polyester and epoxy fiberglass parts will cold-flow too...and usually will go back to their original shapes again with low heat and significant mechanical stress put into them to help them return to as-made. But seeing the roofs caved in somewhat (not just a little deformation of windshield posts), some of these things are looking like 40-year old acetate promos. That won't happen with any kind of decent quality styrene unless it's pretty damm close to its Tg. Again, this would indicate that the parts are being pulled from the tooling before they've cooled sufficiently to be stable. Model car parts will never encounter temps close to Tg otherwise, unless somebody is using boiling water to try to straighten them. EDIT: There IS, of course, the possibility that the quality of the "styrene" used for these things is of a composition that gives it a significantly lower Tg. We all know that many of the recent plastics are far softer and less solvent-resistant than in earlier times, so plastic formulation IS different...and it's probably not done in an attempt to RAISE quality. But without actual testing of the material in question at the temperatures and duration experienced by container-shipped kits, it's all pure speculation.

Herb Deeks (seller name deeks2) on Ebay also has some photo-etched wire wheel kits (15" PE centers that go in your own plastic rims).

Agreed 100%. I like your drill jig. Simple, quick, effective.

That's interesting. I'll have to look into it. I have multiple project-vehicles (my own) that would have to be transported, as I prefer to not sell in-progress vehicles for pennies on the dollar if I can avoid it. I also have literally tons of tools and equipment, including a full-size milling machine and lathe that would have to be moved. Again, I can't sell these for anywhere near the replacement cost. My business has been an integral part of my life for the last 40+ years, and I've amassed enough stuff to quite literally make almost anything. I'm not willing to trade that capability for pretty sunrises, at least not yet. If I can manage to move that capability to where the pretty sunrises are, I'll be profoundly happy. I'm not a big fan of working for other people either, and I need the several client-projects I'm obligated to do here done, paid for, and gone so as to add to my "portfolio". It's a little more complicated than just getting a big truck, loading it, and heading out.

What IS your problem, anyway? OK, the first of LAST month. Happy now? Jeez. Really...just WHAT is your problem? PS. I'll bet the mods $10 that this guy is southpeir / joe smythe / detail stymied, who's been repeatedly banned from the forum already. Ah hell...make it $50.

A car interior with clear windows can act much like a solar oven, trapping infrared. Still, average car interior temps in the sun on a 100 F day with windows closed are in the neighborhood of 170 F. This is well below the glass-transition temperature of styrene...which is why some interior parts don't warp and melt also. I've had models warped while sitting on a vehicle package tray too, because the window glass itself may have a lensing effect as the sun moves relative to the car, much like using a magnifying glass to ignite a piece of paper on a sunny day. This study of the temperatures in a typical brown shipping container over 24 hours shows the peak temperature to have reached only a little over 50 C, or 122 F, in the vicinity of the top, in bright sunlight...again, WELL BELOW the temperature at which the polystyrene that kits are manufactured from will deform permanently.

LOVE IT !! Great to see an old survivor brought back, and built as a box-art piece to boot. Pretty kool.

I was just out in the Kingman area for ten days at the first of this month. Looking at properties, getting stoked enough to come back here and do what it's going to take to make the move...which is a lot...and I still have to work. It'll be a while, but with any luck, it will happen before I'm pushing up daisies.

Another good reason to be thankful that "in space, no one can hear you scream".

Just a thought...rather than going to the trouble and effort of scratch-building a chassis, I often find something in kit form that will be relatively easy to modify for my application. For example, this one has a Ford 9" hung from a 4-link setup with wheelie bars. You could either just use the rear of the frame, or use the whole thing with the wheelbase adjusted to fit your '40. Probably cheaper than buying all the styrene separately to make the same thing, too. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pro-Stock-Street-Complete-Chassis-Suspension-and-Roll-Cage-1-24-scale-FBMR-/191946823872?hash=item2cb0ec18c0:g:9IgAAOSwFGNWTlm1